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What Is?
What Is
Smallbore rifle silhouette shooting is a scaled-down version of the high power rifle shooting sport that started in Mexico around the turn of the century. Legend has it that two of Pancho Villa's guerrillas were boasting over a bottle of tequila when the subject of shooting came up. Since captured livestock needed to be slaughtered in preparation to feed the troops, someone got the bright idea of using the animals as live targets in an informal shooting match, and a new sport was born.
Silhuetas grew into a widely practiced affair of festive fun with a shooting match using various livestock as targets... followed by a large barbecue. Sometime during the 1950s, metal cutouts of popular livestock began to replace live targets, for humanitarian as well as practical reasons -- there wasn't much chicken left after a direct hit with a .30-'06! The sport moved north of the border in late 1960s, with the first NRA-organized silhuetas metalicas match in the mid 1970s.
While high power silhouette still maintains an avid following, smallbore silhouette, or metallic silhouette matches fired with .22 rimfire rifles, is perhaps the most-widely practiced variant of silhouette shooting.
Targets and Distances
All NRA and IHMSA silhouette matches feature targets arranged in banks of five, at varying ranges. Smallbore rifle silhouette targets are 1/5th scale, and placed at 1/5th the distance of their high power counterparts.
The chicken is placed at 40 meters. While these targets are considered second easiest only to the pig, they are surprisingly difficult because of their odd shape. The eye tends to want to 'center' the target, usually resulting in a low shot.
The pig, at 60 meters, is considered the easiest target to hit based upon its relative wideness, regular shape, and the fact that it is close enough to the shooter to make wind less of a factor.
At 77 meters, the turkey is acknowledged as the most difficult of the silhouette targets to hit due to its irregular diagonal shape and because the wind really comes into play. It takes a good shooter to clean a bank of turkeys.
The ram is the furthest target, at 100 meters. Don't let his large size fool you: this target places a premium on an accurate rifle, an accurate hold, and an accurate determination of the prevailing winds.
Although each target is different in size and each is placed at a different distance, these two factors combine to give all of the targets roughly the same apparent size. A different way of saying this is to state that all of the targets cover approximately the same minutes of angle.
Match Format
Sanctioned silhouette matches will require the shooter to fire an equal number of shots at each type of target, usually 40 shots (2 banks of 5 targets at each distance) or 60 shots (3 banks at each distance).
A sighting-in period is normally allowed before the competition begins, where the shooter verifies sight settings at the various distances. Once the match begins, all shots count towards the shooter's score and no sighters are allowed.
When shooters are called to the line, they are ordinarily given a couple of minutes to adjust their sights to the proper yardage. The relay begins when shooters are given a 15-second 'heads up' period to load their firearm, followed immediately and without a delay by a 2-minute, 30-second period during which they shoot at their 5-target bank, from left to right.
All shooting is done from the offhand position, and no shooting coats, hooked buttplates, gloves, or slings are allowed. Targets must be shot in order -- skipping a target results in an automatic 'miss' for that target and the following target whether or not the latter was hit -- and the shooter is only allowed one shot per target. The targets must be knocked over -- targets that are merely rotated or nudged count as misses.
The Smallbore Silhouette Rifle
Part of the draw to this sport is the ease with which you can start. Just about any reasonably accurate .22 scoped rifle can be used. Factory stock or accurized Ruger 10/22's have been used by many beginners. A good value for a starter rifle is the CZ 452 Silhouette model. CZ also offers a newer CZ453. Most folks end up with a high quality bolt action such as an Anschutz or Remington from the 541 family.
NRA sanctioned silhouette matches will be split into Hunter and Standard divisions. The basic difference is that the Hunter rifle must look more or less like a traditional hunting rifle and is limited to a maximum of 8.5 pounds and a minimum of 2 pound trigger. The Standard class rifle need not look like a hunting rifle and is allowed to weigh up to 10 pounds 2 ounces. This synopsis of the smallbore silhouette rules gives more detail.
Scope selection is important. Beginners quickly realize that a good scope is a good investment. Your choice will need to accomodate repeated elevation adjustments and will need to consistently repeat those adjustments. This requirement pretty much requires a target style scope with target knobs. Variable power scopes are most common with shooters generally shooting at anywhere from 10 to 24 power. Experienced shooters usually choose a scope with a target dot reticle instead of the traditional crosshairs. Top choices include Leopold and Sightron.